Boy, 6, dies in Three Kings tragedy

A FATHER failed in desperate attempts to save his six-year-old son who was run over and killed by a float during a Three Kings parade.

Children gathered for the traditional holiday event were told to turn away as the forensic doctor gave mouth to mouth respiration to his son while the boy’s mother and sister looked on.  Emergency workers rushed the victim to hospital, but it was too late to save him.

Horrified witnesses said that the boy had, together with two other children, crawled under a truck from which sweets were being thrown in the traditional parade in Malaga city.

Civil Protection volunteers and local police managed to pull two children to safety, but were too late to save the six-year-old who was crushed as the float moved on.  The tragedy happened as the procession was moving through the central Plaza del General Torrijos square on Saturday.  Children traditionally scramble to pick up sweets thrown from the floats in the annual parade. 

Now residents associations and political parties are calling for better safety measures, with the City Council considering setting up fences for similar events in the future.

But the Mayor, Franciso de la Torre, said after the boy’s funeral on Sunday that the procession had met all required safety measures. Local Police – who had 157 officers at the parade are investigating the tragedy.